


And I'll Plant it With You in Mind

by tvprince



Series: HQ Pokemon au [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon, Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Everyone is Trans, Nonbinary Akaashi Keiji, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Oikawa Tooru, Other, Trans Character, Travel, Traveling Together, nonbinary iwaizumi hajime
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-29 04:33:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6359464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tvprince/pseuds/tvprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What are you proposing?” Hajime asked through dry lips.</p><p>“I’m not proposing anything.”  Akaashi shot him down with one stern look, taking their time to glance between him and Oikawa as if challenging either to fight them on this.  When neither of them spoke, they sighed low and calculating.  “The decision is not mine to make here.  It’d be better for the two of you to come to an agreement.  All I can say is that mated pairs prefer to stay together, raising an egg is no small feat, and both of you are welcome to spend the night on the spare futons and think over your options.” </p><p>---</p><p>Pokemon AU</p><p>When an egg is found at the Daycare Center, Iwaizumi and Oikawa get to add custody battles, forced companionship, and exceptional amounts of patience to their list of acquired experience during their pokemon travels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And I'll Plant it With You in Mind

**Author's Note:**

> My first ongoing fic and boy have I got plans for this one.
> 
> Additional tags and warnings will be added as the story progresses. They/them pronouns for Oikawa and Akaashi and he/him pronouns for Iwaizumi.

Hajime received the call after an hour of scavenging the desert of Route 111.  The muffled beeping hardly registered over the constant blowing sand and no matter how he scrubbed at the old pair of swimming goggles (not everyone had the funds to toss around and splurge for go-go goggles) it was impossible to make out the caller-id.

“Hello?”

 _“Iwaizumi-san?  This is Akaashi Keiji from the daycare center.”_ Ah, well that answered one question.  Hajime took a moment to duck into a small alcove in the side on the mountain, the cover making Akaashi’s gentle voice a little easier to hear.

_“Iwaizumi-san are you still there?”_

“Yeah, sorry, I’m in Route 111 right now.” Akaashi hummed in understanding. “Was there something you needed?  Nothing happened to my pokemon, did it?”

 _“Ah, not exactly.  Your pokemon is fine but there’s a bit of a…_ situation _here.  It’d be better to talk about in person.  As soon as possible.  Can you make it here tonight?”_

Hajime frowned.  That sounded rather… cryptic.  Honestly, he’d planned on camping right on the edge of the desert so he could wake early and do some training until tomorrow afternoon, but Akaashi’s words left him shaken.  Well, it seemed as good a time as any to pick up Godzilla.

“Give me three hours.” Hajime practically tasted the relief in Akaashi’s grateful sigh across the line.

 _“Thank you.  See you soon .”_ A click and the PokeNav hummed a dial tone.  Hajime shut the thing off quick and squished it back into his pocket before adjusting his swimming goggles and bracing the mild sand stream once more.

\---

Three hours, thirty-two minutes, and one very grateful hitchhiker’s parting from an old buggy Hajime’d managed to flag down, and Hajime stood at the doors of Akaashi’s daycare center, face to face with the person in question (appearing at least thirty times more uncomfortable than Hajime thought possible) and…

And some other stranger entirely.  Even at a glance, they gave off an air of a practiced trainer, dark combat boots muddied and the hems of their pants barely-frayed in a way that showed both careful attention to self and a peek at a history of journeys and hiking.  Although it wasn’t as obvious while sitting, this person seemed relatively tall, at least Hajime’s height if not a few centimeters more, and with a build expected of someone traveling around (although not as muscular as Hajime, he noted with a twinge of pride).  Chocolate hair looked purposefully windswept, just styled to keep it out of their equally stunning eyes.  To put it simply, this person was beautiful.  The kind of beautiful that made you do a double-take, an intimidating unreal kind of pretty.  In a way, it was very unsettling.  However, this gorgeous stranger—judging by the tapping of their foot and the irate expression the wore only a moment before fixing it into something saccharine sweet at Hajime’s arrival—had been waiting there quite a while.  At least that was Hajime’s gut feeling.

“Finally decided to join us, Iwaizumi-kun?” the stranger trilled, a little bite in their words.  _Yep, definitely waited here too long._

Hajime ignored this stranger who somehow knew his name (also disconcerting), turning to Akaashi instead.  “Sorry, I couldn’t find many passing cars and biked most of the way.  What’s up?” In his peripheral vision, Hajime saw a very irritated Stranger-san.

“It’s fine—I’m sorry for having called you on such late notice.  Iwaizumi-san, this is Oikawa-san.  Oikawa-san, Iwaizumi-san.” They motioned between the two for a beat, but then was already on the move towards the front door, holding it open.  “If you would follow me, please.”

It wasn’t a request and Hajime and Oikawa both trailed after them (Hajime with curiosity, Oikawa with a smug sort of knowledge).  Akaashi led them behind the front counter, walking brisk past a small kitchenette and table to a cracked-open door.  Again, Akaashi held the door open for Hajime and Oikawa to step in first.  The room was moderate, painted in a muted forest green and hosting an impressive wall of windows directed east.  A few cupboards adorned the other walls and a couple cords twisted lazily along the edges of the room.  Most noticeable however, in the center of the room, lay a large table, cushioned on top and adorned with an array of buttons and wires on the sides.

An incubator.

And inside lay a single large egg.

Hajime blinked, looking between Akaashi’s tired face, Oikawa’s too-large smile, and the innocent egg on the table.  Somewhere in the back of his head it all clicked together.

“So,” Akaashi began, moving to stand beside the table, facing Hajime and Oikawa like some sort of daycare guardian, “It seems your pokemon got rather… _well aquatinted_ during their stay here.  The egg appeared a few days ago and has been in incubation since.  I’m not a breeder, but this facility is equipped to handle the process should neither of you want it—“

“I want it.” Hajime turned to Oikawa, surprised that they’d both said it in unison.  Something told him this wouldn’t end well.

“…I figured as much.” Akaashi took their time.  Everything seemed rehearsed and planned.  It probably was.  “I was going to contact you both and figure out a time to gather, but Oikawa-san stopped by on short notice and, well, here we are.”  Hajime shifted his feet awkwardly.

“I suppose we should lay all the cards on the table.  Godzilla, Aoede!”  Akaashi peeked their head out a door leading to the outside daycare area.  Almost immediately, two large pokemon came trotting inside.  The first one, Hajime’s own ninetales, looked enthused, well groomed, and _happy._ He dropped to his knees to call her forward, his calloused hands curling into her soft ever-warm fur—he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed her.  She nuzzled his face with familiarity as he smoothed the fur on her head.  Across the room, the second pokemon, an elegant looking Absol of all things (that must be the aforementioned Aoede), had found its way to Oikawa’s arms, who similarly crouched on the floor to greet _‘Lovely A-chan!  Oh, he’s been playing so nice and growing so strong!’_  After the initial greetings finished and Hajime and Oikawa raised back to their feet, they both startled to find their pokemon not staying at their sides to revel in the company of their trainers, but instead meeting each other halfway across the room, exchanging an affectionate nuzzle and grooming lick before settling on their haunches in front of the incubating table.  They somehow knew their egg lay up there. Hajime could admit the scene was adorable, but the lingering implication of what was to come of this ordeal, that sat heavy in his belly.

“Eggs aren’t an abnormality by any means, but usually when an egg comes from a pair, it’ll be from one trainer’s pair of pokemon so there’s no worry about egg custody _or_ separating the mated pair…” Akaashi explained as they leaned against the incubation table.  Going by the subtle creasing between Akaashi’s eyebrows, they’d already thought an awful lot about this.

“What are you proposing?” Hajime asked through dry lips.

“I’m not proposing anything.”  Akaashi shot him down with one stern look, taking their time to glance between him and Oikawa as if challenging either to fight them on this.  When neither of them spoke, they sighed low and calculating.  “The decision is not mine to make here.  It’d be better for the two of you to come to an agreement.  All I can say is that mated pairs prefer to stay together, raising an egg is no small feat, and both of you are welcome to spend the night on the spare futons and think over your options.” Without another word Akaashi pushed off the incubation table with too much grace for someone so obviously exhausted, swerving between Oikawa and Hajime and the two parents proudly perching in the middle of the floor to head into the next room—to go hunt down those spare futons, no doubt.  Hajime turned to Oikawa.

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.  This wasn’t exactly an everyday situation.  Over the past months, Hajime’d become well acquainted with travel—he liked his tent a certain way, preferred to train his pokemon at specific hours, only battled certain trainers he came across: Hajime had a _plan_.  Well, emphasis on _had_ , since Oikawa and this egg threw one giant wrench in the whole mix of it.  Not that he was about to complain about an egg, the miracle of birth and all that (Hajime truly did feel lucky, but the whole awkward coat of the entire situation kinda put a damper on that).

While Hajime fumbled through his train of thought, Oikawa apparently found their own tongue, hand on a jutted hip, all 180 centimeters of haughty composure.  A flick of a wrist, a blur of fingers on a PokeNav, and Oikawa opened their mouth.

“Iwaizumi Hajime, 18 years old, trainer’s school graduate, aspiring pokemon league champion, four gym badges.” Oikawa rattled off, sounding disinterested.  Hajime bristled.

“You _googled_ me?”  That was weird wasn’t it?  This guy was _weird_.  What were they even trying to prove?

“I keep tabs on most trainers taking on the league.”  Oikawa shrugged as if this wasn’t _really super weird_.  Maybe it wasn’t.  Hajime tended to keep to himself—he’d heard of brilliant rivalships tearing across the nation, people keeping track of their partner’s progression, etcetera, etcetera.  It wasn’t as if the league website really hid any information anyway.  The tech crew restlessly updated the site with interviews and attempted challenges, hell, there were apps out now specifically for spreading the news of who’d failed the latest gym challenge.  Just because Hajime considered himself a private person didn’t mean he was secretive.  And even if he _was_ he’d obviously failed at that.

“Okay, sure, what’s your point?” Hajime folded his arms across his chest.

“Well, I have five badges so I’m your senior!”  Oikawa pulled out a small case from their back pocket to flash the shiny pins as proof.  Hajime had a good feeling where this conversation was headed.  He looked back to Oikawa, unimpressed.

“And?”

“And…” Oikawa’s eyebrows furrowed, a bit of that confidence seeming to falter. “And so I’d be your senior at egg-raising?”

Hajime grit his teeth, a furious huff seething through.  “Look, _jackass_ , this egg is as much mine as it is yours, and don’t care how many badges you’ve got or how well you can navigate google,” Oikawa actually had the nerve to look offended at that, “Hell, you could be a professional breeder for all I care— _I’m still not letting you have the egg._ ”

“Then what are we going to do?  _I’m_ not giving up on a little baby A-chan!”  Hajime rolled his eyes. “You’re saying we should travel together then?”  Oikawa threw their hands up, all the composure from before dissipating and leaving behind a bratty child.

Hajime wrinkled his nose.  Travel companions weren’t uncommon—people even posted craigslist ads or made online profiles (roamingroomate.com, catchthemtogether.net, the works), but, well… usually it wasn’t under such tense circumstances.  In all honesty, Hajime really _really_ didn’t want to travel with Oikawa.

“Can you think of anything better?  It doesn’t sound like either one of us want to give up the egg…” Hajime muttered, angry with the words coming out of his mouth and wanting _so bad_ to disagree and find a way out, but no solution surfaced.

Oikawa huffed, matching Hajime’s stance with folded over arms, looking about as pleased as Hajime felt.  A quiet howl from Oikawa’s absol ( _A-chan_ Hajime’s mind provided, but he refused to call the pokemon something so _ridiculous_ ) grabbed both their attention.  Godzilla sighed through her nose, placing her head over folded paws, looking like a very fluffy ball of disappointment. _At least some of us are getting along,_ Hajime thought bitterly.

“Please no shouting in my house.”  Hajime actually jumped when Akaashi appeared in the doorway, two rolled up blankets tucked under their arms.  He and Oikawa at least had the decency to look embarrassed.  “You two can figure this out in the morning.  I’ve had a long day.”  Akaashi sighed and Hajime remembered that they were actually younger than him.  Guilt hit him hard in the stomach for causing them so much added grief.

“Sorry Akaashi.”  Hajime said sincerely, taking the proffered blanket with an apologetic smile.  He was in the next room before getting a chance to see whatever face Oikawa made to accompany their “ _Sorry Aka-chan.”_

Past the main entrance and into a tight-spaced living room, Akaashi had already set up two guest futons (on opposite sides of the room thank gods).  Hajime nodded along as Akaashi pointed out the bathroom, explained the two clean towels inside, and told them both the kitchen was theirs so long as they stayed quiet.

“I’m not dealing with the repercussions of a pen full of tired pokemon due to overly rowdy guests.” Akaashi gave them both a look before turning heel and heading (presumably) to their own bedroom.  “Goodnight.”

They flicked the lights off on their way out, blanketing the room in darkness save the slivers of moonlight peering through the window.  Hajime blinked to adjust his eyes only to see Oikawa leering at him across the room.

“We’re not finished.”  Oikawa stage whispered, sounding about as threatening as one could in their pjs and bundled up in three blankets (because “ _Aka-chan, it’s too cold for one blanket and I need to have an odd number!”_ ).  Which is to say absolutely harmless as far as Hajime was concerned.  He rolled his eyes, not caring that Oikawa probably couldn’t catch the motion in the dark.

“That’s why we’re figuring this shit out in the _morning._   Goodnight.”  Hajime muttered, quite wishing his annoying companion’s night was anything _but_ good (but his parents raised him to be polite, so he pushed down that rather distasteful bitterness).

Oikawa muttered something that vaguely sounded like ‘goodnight’ before flopping down on their futon, back facing Hajime.  Hajime bit down a scoff and turned away from Oikawa as well, trying to think about things _besides_ the rude trainer he was now intrinsically tied to.  Alright, alright, happy thoughts… His limbs ached from a good hike… his pokemon fared pretty well in the desert all things considered… Godzilla lay curled up beside him nice and warm… Akaashi’s house was free from the steadily rising winds outside and this futon was _much_ comfier than his own and.

He couldn’t sleep.

No matter how he tried to relax or replay old battles until his mind shut down, nothing seemed to work until he lay stirring in everything he _didn’t_ want to deal with.

He’d never had a mated pokemon before.  What was Oikawa’s absol like anyway?  He seemed alright, but with a trainer like Oikawa who knew.  How did you even raise an egg?  Let alone a baby pokemon, gods.  Would they really have to travel together?  They’d had one conversation and that already led to shouting.  How sad would Godzilla be if she was separated from Oikawa’s absol?  If he had to listen to Oikawa critique his battling tactics (they seemed the type), he was going to _lose_ it.

Across the room Hajime noted Oikawa sounded to be shifting around and he wondered briefly if similar thoughts were running through their head as well.  He let out a low sigh through his nose.  Godzilla, as if sensing her trainer’s discomfort, rested an impossibly soft tail across his chest.  Hajime smiled at the gesture, reaching out to scratch just below her chin.  _I’m alright_.  Finally, after too many minutes of stewing in darkness and silence, Hajime drifted into an unrestful slumber.

\---

The morning proceeded about as well as the evening before it.

Hajime woke to unfiltered sunlight hitting right into his eyes.  A few groans and self-aimed muttering and he sat up, opening his eyes and wondering briefly where he was.  Godzilla stirred beside him, yawning her mouth wide and showing off an impressive set of canines as she stretched out.  Hajime glanced to the side to find Oikawa’s bundle of blankets heaped up on top of the borrowed futon, their absol resting beside it, but the bed itself was Oikawa-less.  Hajime pulled out their PokeNav and… yep, it was still barely 7 AM.  He crinkled his nose and wondered if Oikawa always rose this early (although he knew deep down he was mostly upset at having lost some sort of self-instigated early-riser contest).  Well, nothing much to do about it now. 

Hajime stood, taking the time to stretch out properly and receiving a satisfying pop along his spine for the effort.  He shuffled towards the bathroom while Godzilla contented herself to keep Hajime’s futon warm in his stead.  He blinked, noting the sound of a shower and a light fog of steam curling out from under the bathroom door.  Occupied.  Grimacing, Hajime muttered to himself as he instead shuffle to the kitchen to at the very least rinse out his mouth while he waited for the bathroom to open.  His fingers drummed over the countertop and it hit Hajime that he still did not want to deal with this mess with Oikawa. 

Okay, well that was a little misleading: he _did_ want to get this whole affair settled, he never liked leaving ties undone and this wasn’t an exception.  However, what he most certainly did not want was to recreate last night’s shouting match, listen to Oikawa’s attempts to belittle him as a trainer, and, inevitably, follow through with Akaashi’s (unspoken) suggestion.  Hajime bit back a groan, holding his head in his hands and cursing every god out there for his horrible luck.  He’d done absolutely _nothing_ fowl enough to warrant someone like Oikawa in his life.  If this was all some cruel joke of fate for wrangling one too many wurmple in his youth, it lacked humor.

Hajime lifted his head at the click of the bathroom door opening, apparently having missed the water stopping in his quiet wallow of self pity.  From the cloud of humidity burst none other than Oikawa, towel hanging around their neck like a shawl and dressed in a breathable blouse and well fitted jeans equipped with a healthy amount of pockets: travel clothes.  No matter the outcome, it was obvious Oikawa’s journey continued today.

Oikawa looked up as they fluffed the side of their head dry, pausing when they caught Hajime’s eyes.  A look of mutual disdain passed between them before Oikawa turned with a huff, heading for their bag left somewhere in the living room.

“Bathroom’s yours, Iwaizumi-kun.  You could use it to clear up that grumpy scowl of yours!” Oikawa sang as they leaned down to pet a still sleepy absol.

Hajime grit his teeth and resisted every urge to smother Oikawa with that damn towel. Instead, he grabbed his own bag, dropped it unceremoniously on the sweating tile floor in the bathroom, and closed the door with barely-managed aggression.  What a mess.  The bathroom still held the scent of something fake and sweet (no doubt whatever products Oikawa used), but the thought of hot water easing out the knots in his back let Hajime ease up.  He set his shampoo and body soap on the tub ledge and fiddled with the faucets before finally getting a warm spray from the old showerhead.  Hajime left his clothes in a rumpled pile beside the sink, more than a little eager for a nice shower.  When he finally stepped into the cramped little tub space he let out a content sigh as the water pounded into his sore muscles.  Traveling was fun and all, but Hajime was big enough to admit he missed the finer things in life like a reliable source of running water.  _Especially_ hot water. 

Hajime spent his time in the shower lathering and rinsing and decidedly _not_ thinking about Oikawa and that damn egg. After several minutes of sitting under the warm spray with all actual cleaning finished, the heat from the water began to pitter off.  Reluctantly, Hajime turned off the faucet, only a little guilty at wasting the water (Oikawa had certainly used more than he had, he decided).  Hajime toweled off, dressed, took his time brushing his teeth and even made the effort to run his fingers through his hair before figuring enough was enough and it was time to confront his fate.

The bathroom door bumped against the wall as Hajime threw it open, towel already folded over his arm.  Unsurprisingly, Oikawa sat on their borrowed futon pretzel style, looking up at Hajime with reluctant, but knowing eyes.  Hajime said nothing as he padded to his own futon, pushing the blanket aside and settling beside Godzilla before folding his legs and facing Oikawa.

It was like pulling teeth.

“I don’t suppose you’ve decided you’d rather leave the egg in my care?” Oikawa asked with a bitter smile.

“Of course not.”

“Figures.”  Oikawa sighed.  They tapped their fingers over their thigh with restless vigor.  At least Hajime wasn’t the only uncomfortable one here.

Hajime glanced to the window.  Outside Akaashi seemed to be tending the garden, an oddish and dodou right at their side.

“I think,” Hajime began, finally meeting Oikawa’s eyes, “we both know that it would be… better to travel together with the egg.  For now.”

“For now.” Oikawa repeated, but it sounded more like an agreement than the beginnings of an argument, so that was a start.  Godzilla flicked her tails with an enviable calm now that she was awake enough to watch the two.

Oikawa mulled this over for a long minute before finally kicking out their legs, “Fine.  Alright, I came to the same conclusion anyway.”  Hajime rolled his eyes. “At least Petalburg isn’t too far from here.”

Hajime blinked, surprised.

“What?  That’s where you’re headed, right, Mr. Four Badges?” Oikawa pouted, folding their arms across their chest, still tap tap tapping with their fingers.  It _was_ where Hajime was headed, but he’d honestly expected to have to fight Oikawa more to get them headed in that direction.

“Yeah.”  Hajime recovered, reaching out a hand to pat Godzilla’s head.  Now wasn’t the time to lose focus.  He let out a sigh, but this one was a little less put out.  “I want this about as much as you do but… I _do_ think in some ways it’d be good to hatch the egg together…” He continued, deciding to get it all out in one go.  If Oikawa could be base-level considerate, the least Hajime could return was bare-minimum honesty.  “It’s not like either of us have raised an egg before.”  He looked up, waiting for Oikawa to disagree.  They did not.  Hajime continued.  “Besides, our pokemon get along.”  _And it’s not like we have to be friends to travel together_.  He didn’t add that last part.

Oikawa smiled something a little sharp at the edges, but overall warmer than the first toothy grin Hajime’d been greeted with.  An improvement, but just barely.  Probably.  They pushed up to their feet, rocking back on their heels before walking over to offer an outstretched hand to Hajime.  Hajime hesitated before accepting the offering, rising to his feet.  Oikawa did not let go.

“Oikawa Tooru.” The way Oikawa said it made it sound almost sinister.  Just how bad could this guy’s personality get?

“Iwaizumi Hajime.” Hajime shook Oikawa’s hand once with finality.

“I’m sure you’re excited to have such an amazing superior trainer as your travel companion, huh, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa smirked, releasing Hajime’s hand and immediately moving to their forgotten futon to start folding up the blankets and packing for leave.

Hajime scrunched his nose.  “Are you always this obnoxious?” He muttered, suddenly noticing an annoying pattern in all of Oikawa’s pet names.  _And now I’m a part of it._

“I’ll have you know I’m an absolute delight.”  Oikawa grinned, flashing Hajime an exaggerated wink before turning back to work.  Hajime wondered not for the first time just how long they could actually get along before snapping.   He pushed that grim thought aside for later, nudging Godzilla off his futon so he could roll it up nice and tight.  He also ignored Godzilla’s almost smug sounding growl as she pranced across the room to snuggle up next to Oikawa’s absol while the two watched their trainers ready themselves in the tense atmosphere.

 _Do it for them_ , Hajime thought, biting down a grimace as he stacked his borrowed bedding with a little too much force. _Do it for them._


End file.
